Game Recap at Oshawa (17-Feb)

PRE-GAME NOTESThe game was broadcast on radio (the TEAM 1200/Dave Schreiber; AJ Jakubec stayed in Ottawa), and television (Rogers Television 22/Oshawa feed). Some notes from the TEAM 1200 pre-game broadcast:

* Schreibs had this to say about Staubitz’ injury: “They’re still awaiting x-rays on his right hand. It’s still swollen from a fight he was in against Hendrikx, and it’s only got worse since then. He intends to play tomorrow. Hopefully it’s not broken, because Ottawa can’t afford to lose him.”

* Schreibs said that they [Ottawa coaching team] were not sure what they were going to do with the defence pairings tonight -- if they would bring Lawrance back to defence, and move Jarram up to forward, so that they could have the experience on the defence.

* Oshawa has been having a really bad run. They are out of the play-offs, and look to be building around the team for next year.

* Clutterbuck has a lot of talent; has been one of the better Gens players lately.

* They watched the Kingston and Belleville game yesterday. Schreib’s was surprised at how easily Kingston beat the Bulls. Kingston took the early lead, and the Bulls were a different team. He said that Kingston scares him. They could really put a push on Ottawa over the next series of meetings.

* This could be a huge loss for Ottawa, if they don’t pick up the two points tonight.

* The draft will happen if they do sign a CBA, Schreibs said the Scouts told him at the BEL/KIN game.

* In his pre-game interview [Oshawa] Coach Ladouceur had this to say about Peter Tsmikalis: He has a big role with the hockey team. He sees action in all situations; the PP, PK, face-offs. He’s a good character kid. He gives you his best every night.

Notes from the pre-game interview with Killer:

ON the 2-1 loss to Belleville: We didn’t play totally bad, we just couldn’t score. The biggest thing to worry about is the PP. If we would have got going on one PP goal we could have tied or even won.

ON the PP: We just have to try to keep it simple. We practiced yesterday for about an hour.

ON Staubitz being out of the line up: He stayed back. We’ll hope that he is ready for Friday and Sunday. He keeps the other fellows honest, and is important in the room.

On Guadganolo getting the start: We need to make sure that both goaltenders stay sharp. They’ve both given us great games, and Danny is going to start the Friday and Sunday games, so Anthony starts tonight.

On playing against Oshawa: We can’t let up against anybody. At this point every game is important. This is an important w/e and it starts tonight. They played well against Sudbury the other night. Each time they get a chance to work with the coach they get a little bit better.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONSThe 67s came out working in the first period, and they scored right away (30 seconds in) - Joslin. Oshawa didn’t sit back, but kept coming. I did notice that Ottawa let up in the last 5 minutes of the period. They were playing quite scrambly at one point during the end stretch, where Guadagnolo made some good saves.

There were a flurry of goals scored in the second period; 5 in total: 3 for Ottawa, and 2 for Oshawa. Joslin went hard into the boards at the beginning of the period, and had to be helped off the ice by the trainer (Patafi). The next play after Joslin got of the ice, an Oshawa player went awkwardly into the boards -- shoulder injury it looked like. He too had to be assisted from the ice by the Gens’ trainer. Trudell got a nice break-away goal, going top shelf. Hulit scored a PP goal, making the grand total 1/28 over February games. All in all a good period for both teams.

Both teams continued to play well into the third period. Bonello’s goal, an assist by Mancari, was a nice goal. Bonello was parked to the left of DiRienzo, and was in the perfect spot to get the pass from Mancari. The Gens pulled DiRienzo at the end, and Mancari got an EN goal. The 67s went on to win 6-3. SOG for the game were 40-32 for Ottawa. Ottawa was 1/4 on the PP, and Oshawa was 0/1.

Overall, both teams worked well. Ottawa took fewer penalties, and I think this helped keep them offensively-minded. They were finally able to score on the PP. But they still need to work on positioning and puck handling because scoring a PP goal on Oshawa is not the same as say, scoring a PP goal on Peterborough or Owen Sound.

IMPRESSIONS OF THE 67sJoslin. What a great game for Joslin. He was very strong defensively, steady in his position. He also had a great offensive night as well, with 1G and 1A. He has been one of the best d-men for the 67s this year, and it will be exciting to watch him progress if this is his level of play in his first year.

Talbot just impresses me so much. He quietly goes about his business. He’s constant in his play. He works hard. Tonight, with the decrease in PKs, he (and Hulit) were able to focus more of their energy offensively and it paid off. Overall, he had 1G and 2A.

Hulit. What a great performance by Hulit against his old teammates. He was on fire tonight, and it was evident just how 'up' he was for this game when he was interviewed during the intermission on the television broadcast -- he was talking so fast he reminded me of Matt Foy! One of the biggest things he did tonight . . . scored a PP goal. Finally! Overall, he had 1G and 2A.

I also thought that Mancari had a good game, and Bonello played without any extra drama. Their line contributed offensively. Mancari had 1G and 2A, and Bonello had 1G and 2A.

IMPRESSIONS OF THE GENERALSTrudell. Very dominant player; scored 1G.

Tsimikalis. It was good to hear the positive things about him from Coach Ladouceur in the radio pre-game interview. Tsim got 1G tonight, so good for him (both Tsim and Hulit had good games tonight against their former teammates).

Others? Berti. Another strong player for Oshawa. DiRienzo worked hard at controlling his rebounds, and he had 1A tonight. Clutterbuck. He is a huge guy -- played a very physical game. He laid some great body checks against the 67s. Heshmatpour usually gets under the 67s’ skin, but not too much tonight. He did get 1A.

TEAM 1200 three stars were: (1) Hulit (provided offence; was up and down the ice tonight; had 1G and a pair of key assists), (2) Joslin (this kid just keeps getting better and better; there are more and more scouts that like this kid; a second or third round pick; got that first goal and set the tone for the 67s tonight; had 1G and 1A; was solid defensively tonight), and (3) Talbot (played his usual solid two-way hockey game; had 1G and 2A; his pass to Hulit finally produced a PP goal for Ottawa). An honourable mention goes to Mancari (a good solid effort tonight).

REFFINGBeer. Not too many called. He did miss a few tripping calls.

ATTENDANCE2486.

NEXT UPAt home Friday night (2.18) vs Peterborough. This will be a HUGE game.At home Sunday afternoon (2.20) vs Owen Sound.AJ said prior to the start of the pre-game show that there were around 600 tickets left for both games.

1 comment:

Look what happens when the Talbot line doesn't have to be out there killing themselves all game killing off penalties. The 67s only took one (abbreviated) penalty, and the Talbot line got three goals (Joslin, Hulit, Talbot), including one on the PP! And Hulit was first star. Note to the 67s: stay out of the sin bin.